Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - MOM OF 4 VANISHES WALKING ON RURAL ROAD : WHERE IS BRITTANY?

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

A West Virginia works to make a new home for her children, after a suspicious fire burns the house she inherited from her father. Brittany Horn accepts an offer from her mom to live with her until new plans can be made. Brittany seems to be settling in well and on the afternoon of June 12th,  tells her mother that she will be back after spending time with some friend. Brittany leaves the home on foot, wearing a pink shirt, jean shorts, and white Nike sneakers. Her hair is in a braid and she’s carrying a small tan backpack. This is the last time Mary Horn ever sees her daughter.    When Brittany has not returned in 10 days and isn’t answering calls or texts, Mary Horn reports her daughter missing to West Virginia State police. Mary and sons Kevin and Neil spend days putting up fliers with pictures of Brittany. Brittany doesn’t drive, so the family focuses on foot searches starting from her mother’s home. They find no sign of Brittany. As the news of Brittany’s disappearance spreads, the family begins to receive tips from Brittany’s friends.    A friend of Brittany’s claims he gave her a ride to a home in Louisa, Kentucky on June 12th.  Brittany’s childhood best friend also comes forward, telling police she received a frantic voicemail from Brittany on June 13th.  In the message, Brittany says she’s scared, trying to leave Louisa and get back home.   A year after Brittany’s disappearance, with little progress from the West Virginia State Police, the lead investigator in Brittany’s case, Trooper Corey Maynard, is ambushed while responding to a shooting call in Mingo County. Maynard is shot several times, and dies of his injuries. Brittany’s case has to be reassigned, and a new investigator starts from scratch, losing more precious time searching for Brittany.   Joining Nancy Grace today: Sharon Norris - Brittany Horn's cousin   Kevin Horn  -  Brittany Horn's brother    Jeffrey Lewis - Licensed Private Investigator and Attorney at Alias Investigations | Criminal Law Dave Moyer  - Georgia K9 Tracker, Master Trainer K9 Tracker, Program Manager for Military Contracts, Fmr. Navy bomb disposal master technician,  Fmr. Deputy K9 With San Bernardino Sheriff Dept  Jennifer Dzikowski - Crime Online Investigative Reporter   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A beautiful young mother of four vanishes on foot, walking on a rural road. Tonight, where is Brittany? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. A West Virginia mom of four works hard to make a life for her children.

But then her home is mysteriously set on fire. Is that a coincidence? Can that be a coincidence? After having investigated and prosecuted literally thousands of cases, I do not believe that there is a coincidence in criminal law. But to her disappearance, this young mom, you just saw her yourself, beautiful, mom of four, working, holding it all together, goes walking down a rural road, and then vanishes into thin air? I'm not buying that. Then after a string of, let me just say euphemistically, miscommunications

and jurisdictional back and forth, her case seems to get lost in the sauce. Well, guess what? We found it. Listen. There is a reward if you tell where she is and we find her. That's my daughter, my baby. And I would like to know where she is. And her little kids Christmas cried and wondered where their mom was. And if you even cared about Benny at all, you ought to at least tell what you know or tell where she is. At least do that.

Let us have her back. Can you imagine what her mother has been through? Much less the four children wondering where's mommy? Joining me in All-Star Panel to make sense of what we know right now. And I've got to tell you, these facts are murky at best. They need to be cleared up. Again, All-Star Panel joining us. But first, I want to go to Kevin Horn.

This is Brittany's brother speaking out. Kevin, thank you for being with us. What has it been like since your sister went missing? And what were you doing? Let's start with this. What were you doing when you learned nobody could find Brittany? Who told you? Well, my mom had called me and said that, you know, she hadn't come home in like two days or something. And she said she was going to call and report a missing person. They took the missing persons case, I guess, and then we just started looking for her ourselves.

And we asked the police to assist us in a search, and they wouldn't. They said it was too big of an area um but wait wait wait wait right there hold on hold on okay kevin horn is with me this is britney's brother also with me her cousin sharon also with me the private eye and lawyer. The family hired, his name is Jeff Lewis joining us, multi-jurisdictional, not only lawyer, but private eye. We still don't have Brittany and the facts are not getting any clearer. And I would hazard to guess right there, what you heard Kevin Horn say is part of the problem. But Kevin Horn, let me understand something. Did law enforcement tell you they were not helping you in the search because it was too big of an area? They said it was too

much of an area because it was like the hills. And they said they didn't have enough law enforcement to cover that. And we asked them to just come and assist the family because we have a big family and we was going to do it but they just wouldn't come and assist us they told us we could ask the people of that property i had to go look for it i had to i went looking for her on the ridge i went i've literally crawled down in wells and and trying to find her. And they actually told my mom that they don't look for them, look for the missing people. All they do is they go around and they ask the people questions. They don't actually go looking for them.

Now, let me understand something. Sharon Norris is joining us. This is Brittany's cousin. Sharon Norris, do you remember when you were told Brittany's missing? Yeah. Sharon Norris, do you remember when you were told Brittany's missing? Yeah, I actually was sitting at home and got a phone call that she was missing. So I immediately reached out to her mom to get some details. And then first thing I did was jump on and made a missing person site and tried to start getting the information out there. You know, I'm just trying to take in, Sharon, what Kevin told me, that you guys were told by law enforcement that the search area was too big.

Jennifer Chikowsky is joining me, experienced investigative reporter. Jennifer, thank you for being with us. I'm trying to understand something. Tell me about the area where Brittany went missing. All right. So Kermit, West Virginia, is very rural. It's very close to the Kentucky border. Extremely small town. It consists of only 317 people, which is according to the 2020 census.

And then as of 2020 in the county that it's in, that is only over 23,000 people in Mingo County, which is, again, where Kermit, West Virginia, is located. Now, when you say it's extremely rural, I'm very interested, and I'll tell you why. Joining me is Jeff Lewis, the licensed PI and lawyer who was hired by the family. He operates out of West Virginia, but also works Virginia, Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, even Oklahoma. Jeff Lewis, the owner, operator, founder of Alias Investigations and Criminal Law. Jeff, thank you for being with us. What's stopping me in my tracks, Jeff Lewis, is that the family is told, yeah, we'd really like to help, but we just can't handle

that terrain. Describe the area for me, Jeff. Why would any law enforcement say that? I mean, it is a rural area, but the reasons they gave the family, to be bluntly honest, just aren't true. Because Minkah County Sheriff, the county that they live in, volunteered from day one to help just West Virginia State Police find this woman and bring her back to her family. And West Virginia State Police would not allow them to get involved. They also wouldn't let the Kentucky State Police get involved. And I worked with the deputy from West Virginia State Police for a couple of weeks. And he worked with me really well. And then all of a sudden, he just stopped.

He wouldn't return my calls. He wouldn't return the family's calls. And basically, he said he was writing it off because they were closing the cases. Brittany just walked off on her own, which we know for a fact didn't happen. I'm sorry, I didn't hear that last part. They're saying that she just walked off on her own? Correct. That was the last thing that I got from the West Virginia State Police, that they were closing the case because they determined that Brittany just walked off on her own, even though we have... They said she's a volunteer. Yeah, we know for a fact that's not true. To Kevin Horn and Sharon Norris.

First to you, Kevin. Do you believe at all Brittany just walked off on her own, never to return? No. She would come back to her kids. She would come back to my mom or me. I mean, she never would just walk off leave. She would have no reason to. They told me it was a voluntary missing person.

Yeah, I saw that, Kevin, when I was researching the case, that they put that out on, and I'm talking about law enforcement, put that out in their post, and they had her missing as voluntary. They had her listed as missing voluntary. That's not what happened at all to Sharon Norris, Brittany's cousin. Why would law enforcement slate her as voluntarily missing? I see it happen all the time and you lose precious hours, weeks and months. Yeah, I have no idea what would make them in any way look at it as she would

voluntarily go missing. And the reason I say that is because I had brought Brittany to Ohio. Her brother was keeping her kids for a little bit. And I brought her to Ohio and she got so homesick for her babies. I had to get in the car and take her back home to her baby. Like, she didn't even stay the full amount of time. She was slotted to stay. So nobody will ever make me believe, nobody's ever going to make me believe that Brittany would just have to walk away from her kids. Nobody would ever make me believe that. So Sharon Norris, after a few days, she wanted to get back to her children. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

She, I think it was two days and she was going to stay a week. But two days, she was ready to get back to her children. Oh yeah. Yeah. She, I think it was two days and she was going to stay a week, but two days she was ready to get back to her kids. To Sharon and Kevin and Jeff Lewis as well, the lawyer slash PI. I'm very curious about what I'm just hearing. Brittany leaves home on foot wearing a pink shirt, jean shorts, Nike sneakers. As I recall, those sneakers had a neon green swoosh up the side. She had her hair in braids. She was carrying a tan backpack. I know she was going to college as well at Regent College. I know she was wearing a gold chain around her neck and a bangle bracelet. That is what I know of what she was wearing and i want to analyze that. why? because it might give me a clue. what was in her tan backpack? i know she was in college. i know

she was taking classes. she was also raising four children. what would be in the backpack? probably school supplies. but the outfit, the outfit kevin horn, for her to leave on foot, rural road, and I've looked at the aerial shots. It's nothing but green, all green trees, very wooded. Where would she be going dressed in shorts and Nikes? Where would she be going? She's certainly not going out for a night on the town. That tells me a lot right there. Weigh in. She was walking to her friend's house. Okay how far away was the friend? It's about two

miles. About two miles so that would have taken her max 30 minutes. Okay question do we believe she made it to the friend's house? No. Did not make it. You know, that really narrows it down. Sharon Norris, is that your understanding as well? Yeah. I don't get it. How could this woman disappear in a two-mile stretch wearing nothing but jean shorts, a pink top with a backpack?

That doesn't make sense to me. But listen, when Brittany has not returned in 10 days and isn't answering calls or texts, Mary Horn reports her daughter missing to West Virginia State Police. Mary and sons Kevin and Neil spend days putting up flyers with pictures of Brittany. Brittany doesn't drive. So the family focuses on foot searches starting from her mother's home. They find no sign of Brittany. As the news of Brittany's disappearance spreads, the family begins to receive tips from Brittany's friends. Brittany Horn confides in her mother

that someone is out to get her. Days later, where is Brittany? Could that be true? No one in her family believes that Brittany was suffering any type of paranoia, but let's look at the facts. Was she right? She does a whole reno job on her father's home that he leaves to her. While she's away, she comes back. The place is burned to the ground. She keeps plotting forward, going to school, college at Regent College and raising four children. And then she disappears on a rural walk just two miles between her mom's home where she's now living and her friend's home. That's a 30 minute walk. When she's reported missing to local authorities, they say the area is too big for them to help search. So the family who's joining us tonight, dig in, putting up posters, going on searches, even going in their own pocket to hire

a private investigator, Jeff Lewis of Alias Investigations. Joining me right now is a special guest, and boy, do we need an expert. Dave Moyer is with us, Georgia K-9 Tracker, Master Trainer K-9 Tracker, Program Manager, Military Contracts, former Deputy K-9 with San Bernardino Sheriffs. Dave Moyer, I've got a really hard time understanding, and I'm not just getting this from the family because family can be upset and misinterpret what they're told. A lot's happening while they're trying to find her, but there have been no canine searches. I've seen no extensive searches by law enforcement. In fact, even knowing the facts as we have presented them now, Dave Moyer, they still listed her as voluntary missing.

That did not happen. She did not believe, leave all of her belongings and her children and disappear with nothing but her backpack with her school books in it and a pair of tennis shoes. That didn't happen. Now talk to me about the search of a very heavily wooded area such as Kermit. Yes, ma'am. First, I'd like to kind of introduce you to how these dogs track and trail and what they're tracking and trailing. It's usually an amalgamation of the combination of ground disturbance, dead skin cells that slough off the body, sweat, the oils, the gases off the human body as you reprobate. And as these biological items decompose, that's what our dogs are actually tracking. So that's going to bring into conflict a lot of guys from the sport tracking community that are very hard set on their ground disturbance tracking.

And that's fine. We're using everything available to us as law enforcement or military side so we can actually effectively track in the real world. Now, because this is biological decomposition, at least that's the theory behind it, it does have a very short shelf life based on the environmental conditions. Wait a minute. Dave Moyer, I believe you're putting the cart before the horse. We don't know that we're looking.

Did you say biological decomposition? Because if they had gone out looking for her immediately, I don't think we'd be looking for a dead body. I would disagree with you there. I have been involved in many of those searches. My time in San Bernardino County, I ran the tracking and trailing slash cadaver dog, and I was the only full-time sworn dog in all of Southern California at the time. And we had tremendous success getting out there in a timely fashion. And even recent death has a very distinct odor, all its own, involved with these canines. So, again, we're putting a lot of things

in theory. There's no room of computers anywhere in the world that can do what that little dog's brain can do. And they all do that instinctually. All we're doing is harnessing that behavior so we can read it. Now, based on what you're saying with the environment, it's going to keep that productive source alive a lot longer, but time is very much of the essence. And after 24 hours, it's very difficult to even search a heavily wooded area unless you have a very experienced and well-trained dog team. And unfortunately, a lot of these rural agencies, they only have so many assets available. And if they don't have those kinds of canine assets available, those canine programs commonly take the cuts first when budgetary needs come first.

You know what I mean? I know what you mean. Everything I hear you saying, I agree with, except for one thing. If the search had been conducted immediately, I don't know that we would be dealing with trying to find a dead body. That changes things. Would you agree, Dave Moyer, as to what you're looking for? I mean, this was just a two-mile walk. That changes things. Would you agree, Dave Moyer, as to what you're looking for? I mean, this was just a two mile walk. That's a 28, 27 minute walk. This woman is young. She's perfectly capable of getting two miles under 30 minutes. So why would I be looking for a dead body? Well, I'm sorry. I think there was a miscommunication there. What I meant by decomposition was the decomposition of the human trail. And that trail decomposes because it's made up of

biological matter. Now, cadaver search dogs, completely different animal. We can talk about that until heads hit the desk. However, that's not the point I'm even coming to yet. A train tracking dog, if this had been deployed immediately, could have picked up from the location that she left and tracked along that route. And the dog would stop trailing if she was picked up by a car or abducted. And then maybe there could have been some physical evidence in that immediate area of a scuffle. Hold on, Dave Moyer.

And I don't like interrupting you because I'm learning from everything that you're saying. Number one, I now everything that you're saying. Number one, I now understand what you're saying. At the very beginning, when you started, when you were talking about biological matter, I thought I misinterpreted. I thought what you were saying was that she was dead immediately. And I don't believe that. Okay. Now I understand that you're talking about human biological matter, whether she's dead or alive. I get it. And I agree. Number two, let me just tell you that the single best witness I ever put on the stand and all the years I was a prosecutor, even when I worked with the feds, was a dog.

Best witness ever. And he did really well on cross-examination. But what you're saying about the search, I want to go into the conditions. This was June 13 in Kermit, West Virginia. I've also got another site in Kentucky I want to talk to you about, but would the weather affect in any way? And last you stated that a dog could follow a scent, um, until the person like gets in a car. I'd like to point out a name to you. And if you don't know it, you might be able to jog your memory. Eloise Anderson. Who is she? She handled the dog, Trimble, in the Lacey Peterson murder case. Scott Peterson. That dog, Trimble, followed Lacey's scent, had it in Modesto, all the way, picked it up again at the marina at the San Francisco Bay, followed Lacey's scent from the parking lot down to a trail along the tree line. So nobody would see Scott Peterson taking the body along the tree line to the dock, to the pier and then Trimble stopped at some pylons, looked out at the water,

alerted, and turned around to indicate the search was done. Everybody always says, why'd they convict Scott Peterson? I can tell you right now, because of Trimble, the dog. That's why. So tell me how this would have worked, finding Brittany, if the dogs had been brought immediately. What would have happened, Dave Moyer? Well, let's propose that she's possibly picked up by an individual that had been after her. The dog would have started the trail at her last scene point, which would have been her house as she's walking through her friends. And then if there was any point along that road where she was, you know, somebody pulled up, grabbed her, stuffed her in the trunk,

there would have, the dog would have stopped, circled, alerted, much like Trimble did, and then not continued trailing any further. Now I articulate that behavior and we train our handlers to articulate this behavior as the trail trail has gone no further. Something happened here, but we're not sure what until we get some other corroborating evidence, whether it be video surveillance, cell phone data, whatever it may be. So the outlines of this case, if you put them, definitely raises my suspicion. The canines could have certainly helped out tremendously if they were deployed immediately. And that's actually how my agency got their canine program back in 2014 after the Christopher Dorner incident. I don't know if you remember that.

That was the, okay, I shall say no more. But that unfortunately cost one of our deputies, our corporal, his life and then got another deputy seriously injured. Had we had dogs, that may not have happened at all. It could have been could have been handled a lot quicker and a lot more safely for everyone involved. Where is Brittany, a Virginia mom of four, missing from her mother's home? Family says this isn't like her. Joining me in all-star panel to make sense of how this young mom, also a student at Regent College, a mother of four, can go on a little under a two-mile walk to her friend's house and vanish into thin air. All I'm hearing so far, not by the people on my panel, of course, is it's a technical legal term. B.S. This woman did

not vanish off the side of the road and that she did not leave voluntarily. You know, that's something I really don't understand. To Jeff Lewis, who joining me, not only a private investigator hired by the family to try to find Brittany, but lawyer as well. He runs alias investigations. Jeff, I've dealt with so many cases where usually a woman goes missing, sometimes a teen and Ellie law enforcement says, Oh, she's just out with her boyfriend. You know what? They said that in the Stacey Peterson case. They say that they said that in the Jennifer Dulos case, they said that I can name 50 cases off the top of my head where they claim the mom just went for a little me time,

went on a walkabout. It's not true. Why does law enforcement always believe the woman just bugged out on her children? To be bluntly honest, Nancy, it's because they don't want to have to work on the case. I mean, they gave me one trooper from the West Virginia State Police to work with me on this

case, and he only stayed on it for two weeks and closed it as a voluntary. Basically basically she just walked away we had me and kevin and sharon have worked on this case since day one and we've got the evidence that she did make it to her friend's house in west virginia and that's who i told police they needed to investigate and to talk to and they flat out refused they said the place was closed that she walked away on her own and that they were done with it but yet they wouldn't allow Mingo County Sheriff that has tried to get in on this case from

day one they they would not allow them to be involved with it and they refused to allow this the Kentucky State Police to be involved with it and they had to have West Virginia State Police's permission before they could come in they wouldn't give it to them so it sounds like a lot of jurisdictional infighting and it all seems to happen between these two homes some accounts are she did not make it to the friend's house. Some accounts are she did, but within a two mile space, she goes missing. Back to you, Dave Moyer. I know this is a heavily, heavily wooded area. What are the challenges in searching a wooded area like this? Because the family, Sharon Norris, Kevin Horn, and others go out on foot and they comb this area, but they're not professionals. I mean, what are the challenges? Again, there's a tremendous time

advantage or disadvantage for this for actually tracking because that trail is going to decompose and disappear within 24 to 48 hours, sometimes less than that, sometimes a little bit longer, depending on weather conditions and the type of plants that are out there. You know, high wind and high heat and heavy sun is just going to destroy a trail within hours. But if it's shaded, if it's cooler, it's going to last a lot longer. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fantasy trailers. To throw in the works, Dave Moyer, we researched it last night and discovered that there were, later in the day, heavy thunderstorms. That didn't help anything, right? No, that certainly didn't help it at all.

And again, there are a lot of fantasy trailers out there, as we affectionately refer to them. It'll tell you their bloodhound can follow six-month year old trails there's been bad case law up down left right center on that we're very cognizant of never teaching that and never putting that into any of our students that we teach now that was beat into my head at a very early age when i was running my dog out in southern california for that reason and of course i can't speak to the jurisdictional infighting or other stuff that's going on with the departments, but your standard patrolmen are in their favor. I was one for a long time myself. You're under a lot of pressure to get to the next call, to handle the next call for service. And some guys just aren't able to put the time and effort into this that you'd like

to see. I'm not defending anything. I'm just saying that that does happen. It happens. And back to Kevin and Sharon, also joining us, Jeff Lewis and Jennifer Skalsky, investigative reporter. Kevin and Sharon, I understand, was it you, Kevin, that actually went down wells looking for your sister? Yes, several. Around the ridges. Explain. I just didn't know where else to look. And I was like, maybe somebody's done something to her,

thrown her down a well, you know, or something. And so I was like, I'm climbing down in there. I'm going to look. I'm going to try to find her. I just can't find her. You know, it was just us trying to find her. There were a few of us,. We couldn't cover everything. And here we are.

Sharon Norris, it just it hurts my heart to hear what the family has been going through, trying to conduct their own searches. actually going down wells, climbing into wells, abandoned wells, looking for, by that point, what he thought would be his sister's body. I have no evidence she's dead or alive. Sharon Norris, what have you been through trying to find Brittany? There have been so many stories, just horrific, horrific stories that have been sent as tips to me about her being chopped up, about her being put through a wood chipper, that we would never find her. Just, and that she was kept for a week while they tortured her. And then they tied her to four-wheelers and took off both ways on the four-wheelers and decapitated her. I mean, just the horrific things we have been told. And it makes it hard to sleep at night sometimes because you get those images in your head. You know, I'm really blessed. I am so blessed because when my fiance was murdered, I knew what happened.

I knew who killed him. I knew what happened I knew who killed him I knew what happened you guys have no idea I mean Kevin these tips these people that are stating that she was put in a wood chipper that she was tortured

for days I mean how do you even put one foot in front of the other one I can't even get out of bed sometimes, but I make myself because I get up every day with it continuing. We don't get no closure. It just continues every day. My sister would have called by now, says the brother of missing mom of four, Brittany, last seen by family at her mother's house. Now let me just throw a wrench in the works, a fly in the ointment, so to speak. A new crime scene. Remember, we were in Kermit, population 2017. Jennifer Tsikowsky told us about it, the heavily wooded terrain. Now we have another potential

crime site. Listen. A friend of Brittany's claims he gave her a ride to a home in Louisa, Kentucky on June 12th. The homeowner goes by the moniker Chicago. Brittany's childhood best friend also comes forward telling police she's received a frantic voicemail from Brittany on June 13th. In the message, Brittany says she's scared, trying to leave Louisa to get back home. Joining me, investigative reporter Jennifer Zekowski. Jennifer, what? Okay, now I start with Kermit, POP 217. Now I am in a completely different area, Louisa, Kentucky.

How far apart are these two? Okay, Kermit is located about 28 miles away from where she was also reportedly last seen in Louisa, Kentucky. This was supposedly with a man named Robert that a friend had dropped off at Brittany at Robert's house. There was no confirmation she ever left the area, according to Brittany's missing Facebook page. But then there's also really no, there's so many unanswered questions. I mean, did she really leave Kermit? Is she in Louisa? Louisa is another small town, not nearly as small as the 317 in Kermit, but about 2,500. The crime rate is, it's 46% safer than most neighborhoods in the United States. So there's probably, you know, some dangerous areas, I'm guessing,

like everywhere else. But it's just really conflicting reports of was she really last in Louisa or was she really last in Kermit? Wow, Jennifer, 28 miles apart. And what you're telling me is, as I said at the get go, it's very murky. But we have to now investigate two potential crime scenes. Very quickly to Kevin Horn, this friend who states she gets a voicemail from Brittany claiming she is scared and trying to leave Louisa, that's Kentucky, 20 miles away, 28 miles away, to get back home. But we know Brittany did not

have a cell phone with her. Isn't that correct? That's correct. She says in the voicemail, I'm using this girl's phone and Facebook to call you. She called her from the Facebook on her phone. Do you believe the friend, Kevin? Do you believe the friend claiming that Brittany was in Louisa? Do you believe the friend? Well, I heard the three messages. I mean, she was in Louisa. She says, I'm in Louisa.

I've got them. Okay, so they're real. They're real. Okay, that changes everything. To Jeff Lewis joining me, not only lawyer, but PI of Alias home, we don't have to worry about the two-mile stretch anymore, except who picked her up in that two-mile stretch or who picked her up at their friend's home. Jeff Lewis, what can you tell me about Louisa, Kentucky? I got contacted by the sheriff in Louisa that told me if he caught me in Kentucky that they would throw me in jail immediately. And me being a private investigator, I've never had law enforcement threaten me

for working on a case in their area before. But their sheriff's department did. They told me flat out that if I came over there. Okay, so let me get that straight, Jeff Lewis. The sheriff's department told you don't put your toe in Louisa, Kentucky, or we'll throw you in jail. Did they say that? Correct. Correct.

Which L.A.? It was the sheriff. Of Mingo? No, it was Louisa, Kentucky. Louisa, Kentucky sheriffs. Okay. So now I've got a potential double crime scene. What more do we know?

I know the family immediately heads to Louisa. Listen. The horns make the 40-minute drive to Louisa, Kentucky to report Brittany missing from the area as well. Louisa, Kentucky police take the report informing the family that their department can only help with the West Virginia State Police's investigation. State Police Troop 5 refuses the help from Kentucky, saying they have the investigation under control. Brittany is the baby of the Horn family. She is doted on by parents Paul and Mary Horn

and best friends with older brothers Kevin and Neil. Brittany is bubbly and funny, always surrounded with friends. She graduates from Tulsa High School in her hometown of Kermit, West Virginia. And going on to college at Regent College, raising four children. Listen to what the family says. This is from our friends at WSA 23. We need the police to do something. You know, we need answers because it's been a year and they've not told us anything. It has. It's been over a year now. Well over a year. The family begging for help. You heard how she was doted upon by her family. Bubbly, happy. But listen to this. Not long after graduating, Brittany Horn meets and falls head over heels for Clyde Duff Jr.

after a whirlwind romance. Brittany and Duff marry and are expecting twins. But their fairytale marriage has a dark side. Duff has quite the rap sheet by the time of their vows and is often violent towards Brittany. The couple stays together and have two more children. During family visits, relatives notice Brittany has bruises and injuries more and more frequently. Domestic abuse rears its ugly head. Listen. At one point, Brittany tries to leave Duff. Brittany cuts off contact and moves back in with her mother. One afternoon, Duff shows

up to Mary Horn's home demanding to see Brittany. Brittany's family members refuse to allow contact, infuriating Duff. Duff kicks down the front door, brandishing a gun. Brittany's brother struggles with Duff over the gun. After that incident, Brittany totally distances herself from her ex. Listen. A few months after the assault at Brittany's mom's home, Duff convinces Brittany to give him another chance, claiming he's a new man. Duff's violent habits quickly return and Brittany finds herself looking for a way out again when Duff is arrested for theft. This time, his sentence isn't so light and Brittany jumps at the chance to start fresh. She does start fresh. She spends all of her time, all of her money working on her father's home. He's left it to her to move into with her four

children. Listen. Brittany works for months to fix up her late father's home, then reaches out to her aunt in another state, hoping some time away will help her move on. Brittany's aunt is more than happy to help. And five months later, Brittany feels ready to take on the world. Brittany makes the trip back to West Virginia, excited to move the family into her new home. Brittany is heartbroken when she learns the home burned down in her absence. Brittany accepts her mom's offer to live with her until she makes new plans. And that is where Brittany is when she goes for that fateful walk that day in June. That's why she was at her mom's house. Let me ask you this, Kevin Horn, where was the ex at the time Brittany went missing? He was in jail at the time, or I would have thought it had been him. As I thought, you know

how much I would love to point the finger at him. Statistically, it's always the ex, the husband, the boyfriend, but it's not this time. He was nowhere near her. He was doing time on a theft. That leaves me with a lot of unanswered questions to Jeff Lewis joining me, private investigator at Alias Investigations and lawyer. Jeff Lewis, what do you think happened to Brittany? I believe that she managed her friend's house and then something happened there. I believe it may have been very well been an accident and her friend panicked.

And instead of calling 911, they tried to cover up what happened. Kevin Horn, what is your theory? Because you've heard the messages. You heard your sister state, I'm in Louisa. I'm trying to get home. You heard that and you believe it. You heard it yourself. What do you think happened to your sister?

Any chance she's still alive? I don't ever want to say that there's not a chance, but I know deep down that she's gone. And I do know she was going to her friend's house. She didn't make it to that friend's house. She got with some other friends. They went to Louisa. She was down Louisa and she was trying to get back and she got a ride back. And then that's when, after that ride back, she's gone.

If you know or think you know anything about the disappearance of this beautiful mom of four, Brittany Horn Duff. Please contact 304-235-6000. The family is offering a reward. Please, if you know anything, contact police. 304-235-6000. You can remain anonymous. Brittany missing from her four children. Last seen on a walk on a rural road.

Thank you to our guests for being with us, especially the cousin, Sharon Norris, and brother, Kevin Horn of Brittany still searching for answers. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.